Ajay Wardhan #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #AjayWardhan Cast: #RomilChoudhary #PihuSharna #KshitiPatwardhan #AbhimanyuAryan #YogeshVatts Director: #PragatiAgarwal #PrasidhEklavayaEntertainment @everyone #AltairMedia Runtime: 96 mins Rating: *

A pointless biopic about a supposedly impoverished farm boy becoming a reputed dentist by dint of hard work and perseverance, the narrative of this film fails to highlight the grit and gumption high-points of that yeoman effort and instead wallows in a ridiculous love story with an #ArjunReddy like aside. This is a rather indistinct, routine and lacklustre telling.

Cirkus #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Cirkus #UniversalCommunicationsPR #RohitShettyPicturez #TseriesFilms #BhushanKumar #RelianceEntertainment Cast: #RanveerSingh #JacquelineFernandez #PoojaHegde #VarunSharma #SanjayMishra #JohnnyLever #SiddarthJadhav #VrajeshHirjee #SulbhaArya #MukeshTiwari #AshwiniKalsekar #MurliSharma #AnilParamjeett #DeepikaPadukone #SaurabhGokhale #BrijendraKala #VijayPatkar Writers #SanchitBedre(dialogue) #VidhiGhodgaonkar(dialogue) #YunusSajawal(screenplay) Cinematography: #JomonTJohn Editor #BuntyNagi Director: #RohitShetty @everyone Rating: * Runtime: 132 mins

This super-saturated candy-coloured offering, borrowing heavily from #ComedyOfErrors #Angoor #Hungama, etc is dangerous to your eyes and brain. Rohit Shetty has obviously run out of tricks as he continues to use the same old tired formula to woo the audience already beleaguered by thankless #Bollywood fare. To add to your woes Siddarth Jadhav’s facial contortions is the only acrobatic circus act you can get here. Ranveer Singh’s electric man persona is so lusterless that one wonders why anyone would pay money to watch the uninteresting act in a circus. It's better suited to a believe-it-or-not episode on TV. His attempt to channel his latent energy into a staid double act doesn’t add up either. Deepika Padukone’s item number does nothing to raise the bar on excitement here. The once-ever-dependable Sanjay Mishra gives his worst performance here and even Sulbha Arya and Johnny Lever look out of sorts. Pooja Hegde looks rather insipid and Jacqueline looks more cartoonish than real. It's pitiable that even Varun Sharma fails to get a laugh out of you. The writing, screenplay, direction, and comic timing are so woebegone that the film feels rather flat, forced, stilted, and passionless.

Blurr #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Blurr Cast: #TapseePannu #GulshanDevaiah #KruttikaDesaiKhan #AbhilashThapliyal #SorabhChauhan #NityaMathur #SumitNijhawan #Zee5 #AvianWE #ZeeStudios #OutsidersFilms #EchelonProductions @everyone Director: #AjayBahl Writers : #AjayBahl #PawanSoni Runtime: 126 mins Rating: * 1/2

Taapsee Pannu's first project as a producer, a rather inept attempt at #horror #thriller, this official remake of the #Spanishfilm #JuliasEyes like the #Marathi remake #Adrushya that came a few months before it, fails to drum up interest mainly because both films miss out on integral - the psychological portrait of an ordinary Everyman serial killer that the original film managed to put forward so brilliantly. Multiple plot threads haphazardly put-together strain credulity to breaking point and Tapsee’s enunciation of the helpless betrayed woman who also happens to be losing her sight and is being terrorized by a serial killer isn’t convincing in the least. Mostly because her cultivated image doesn’t allow for such vulnerability. There are a few classy moments in the narrative and #SudhirKChaudhary’s cinematography is enabling enough but overall there’s far too much confusion in the telling for this to be an enjoyable outing!

Vadh #picksandpiques #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #JohnosnThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Vadh #SpicePR #LuvRanjanfilms Cast: #SanjayMishra #NeenaGupta #DiwakarKumar #AbhitoshSinghRajput #ManavVij #UmeshKaushik #TanyaLal #PranjalPateria #SaurabhSachdeva @everyone Directors/Writers : #JaspalSinghSandhu #RajeevBarnwal Runtime: 110 mins Rating: * * 1/2

Hindi cinema is now literally obsessing about the #Dexter ( International TV Series) way of disposing-off dead bodies and we see that translating in real life too (if newspaper reports are anything to go by) but are such macabre methods really required in a story where murder is an act of rage or accident? Well, Vadh ( translated as vanquishment/slaughter/Assassination of evil in cinema terms) would like you to believe it is…A crime thriller that borrows the #Drishyam construct rather simplistically, this one is about a geriatric brahmin couple, hapless and timid, who find themselves in the crosshairs of a vile villain out to extort a debt they are unable to repay. When he suggests that a young girl child they care for as their daughter be the repayment, the old man sees no way out … Up to that point, the narrative was believable. The aftermath of the murder though was unpalatable and rather implausible. The usual cliches of an ungrateful progeny, a corrupt cop, and a gypped criminal justice system come into play. The film literally loses heft on the way to an implausible, contrived ending. While this film does not work up steam as an edgy thriller it indirectly raises questions as to the bias of caste and religion by which we view crime and criminal culpability…

Freddy #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Freddy #SpicePR #NarendraHirawatProductions #DisneyHotstar #AltairPR #BalaiMotionPictures #NHStudioz #NorthernLightsFilm Cast: #AlayaF #KartikAryan #KaranAPandit #SajjadDelafrooz #JenifferPiccinato #HarshikaKewalramani #TriptiAgarwal Director #ShashankaGhosh Writer: #ParveezSheikh #EktaKapoor #ShobhaKapoor #JayShewakramani #GauravBose Cinematography: #AyanankaBose Editor: #ChandanArora Music: #ClintonCerejo #Pritam Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 124 Mins

The makings of a Psychopath. Dentist Freddy Ginwala has no social graces, makes toy planes as a hobby, and gets distracted by women's bust lines while making his oral checks. Marriage dating sites have failed him and then he falls prey to a married, young, attractive damsel in distress. And his life goes from being colorless to blood red all the way through! The main character arc doesn’t hold good here. The dramatic change is inexplicable and Kartik Aryan’s performance ranges from hesitant to inconsistent. Alaya F though is imminently convincing. The helming and editing should have been sharper and tighter. Great cinematography makes this experience visually compelling.

Life is Good #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews Film: #LIFEisGOOD Runtime:100 mins Rating: * * * Cast: #JackieShroff #RajitKapur #DarshanJariwala #MohanKapoor #SunitaChaya #Saniya as Misthi (6 Years) #Ananya as Misthi (13 Years) #Ankita as Misthi (older) #SaanandVerma Director: #AnanthNarayanMahadevan Producer: #AnandShukla Music:Abhishek Ray OriginalStory: #SujitSen Background Score: #AjitVarman Director Of Photography: #AlphonseRoy #AltairMedia #AshwaniShukla @everyone #ShyamSharma

How heartache, loneliness and hopelessness gives way to hope when a young chirpy orphan girl enters the lives of lonely individuals - this film is a postcard for going it alone -so long as you make the effort to bond with the people around you. Consummate, non-showy performances in a narrative that blends nuanced sentiment with tempered craft, this film set in beautifully captured Mahableshwar and Panchgani is a heartfelt ode to non-conformist human relationships.

India Lockdown #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #IndiaLockdown #Zee5 #AvianWE #PEN Cast: #PratiekBabbar #SaiTamhankar #ShwetaBasuPrasad #AahnaKumra #PrakashBelawadi #HrishitaBhatt #AishaSAiman #SatwikBhatiya Director: #MadhurBhandarkar Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 117 mins

There’s nothing hard-hitting about this attempt by Madhur Bhandarkar to document the travails and woes of some sections of the Indian citizenry following the unprecedented and unforgivable lockdown announced abruptly, soon after the corona pandemic began to spike. The four mini-plots are inspired by true stories but are treated with his typical lascivious gaze. Pratiek Babbar goes overboard on the facial expressions, Prakash Balewadi is irritatingly over-the-top but Shweta Prasad, Aahna Kumra, Sai Tamhane, and the bit players do a valiant job trying to give this effort some grit. Unfortunately, this is a very sterile attempt at an expose. There’s no attempt made to show the utter lack of responsibility/humanity exhibited by the powers that be, while ensuring a strict unforgiving lockdown. Though the stories reflect and resonate with the common man’s suffering they do not seem to have any greater purpose.

An Action Hero #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #AnActionHero Cast: #AyushmannKhurrana #JaideepAhlawat #AkshayKumar #NeerajMadhav #HarshChhaya #MalaikaArora #NoraFatehi #VaqarSheikh Director: #AnirudhIyer Rating: * * * Runtime: 123 mins #TSeries #ColorYellowProductions #RaindropPR

Poor PR fails this spiffy entertaining spoof surrounding a typical Bollywood action hero and his tryst with murder.Anirudh Iyer’s creation has all the makings of a cult hit but the pre-release publicity was so ineffective that getting people into the theaters is going to be an uphill struggle all the way. Iyer’s narrative takes pot-shots at all things Bollywood and also scores much bigger hits on the media circus (Loud channel newscasters better described as toons) which highlights its own ineptitude by tagging it as breaking News. The plotting is a little wayward and characters may seem to be functioning in an unreal world…but then that’s mainstream Bollywood for you. Ayushmann Khurrana and Jaideep Ahlawat make the most of their screen time by playing it cool and working up a spoofy chemistry with panache.